Two Argentina players, Moroccan suspended from crucial semi-finals ties

When Argentina take on Croatia in Tuesday night’s clash with Croatia in the semi-finals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the two-time champions will be without two of their players, Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuna.

Both players were on yellow cards, going into the quarter finals against Netherlands.

Acuna fouled Netherlands defender Jurrien Timber in the 43rd minute, and the referee Antonio Mateu booked him.

For Montiel, the booking came three minutes after coming on from the bench in the 106th minute, when he reacted aggressively, following a nudge from Cody Gakpo.

Acuna’s first yellow card had come against Poland and Montiel’s first had come against Mexico, both group stage games of Argentina. With their second yellow cards, both are suspended for the semifina duel with Croatia.

In the case of Morocco on Wednesday, Walid Chiddira will not be part of the crucial game with France. He was shown a second yellow card that turned red in the same match.

The two yellow cards came after two rough challenges on Pepe and Joao Felix.

In addition with the card-related suspension of Chiddira, Morocco are certain to be without  Abdelhamid Sabiri and  Hakim Ziyech, who are both recovering from a knock.

Naif Aguerd is recovering from a muscle injury while Noussair Mazraoui has a hip injury to recuperate from.